The Final Stretch
by dogsrock101
Summary: Mark was an eccentric man, and Hector had eventually grown accustomed to his eccentricities. The man may have been mad, but he was reliable, and Hector could trust him with his life. Or, so he had thought. Until the week of final exams approaches.


Mark was an eccentric man. He was a brilliant tactician, yes, for they had never lost a single battle, and had never lost a single soldier, but Hector had always thought that the green-clad man had a screw loose.

Both on and off the battlefield, he spoke of gibberish that nobody understood. Not even Canas had ever seen or heard of the steel contraptions that, according to Mark, transported people from place to place in a far timelier manner than horseback. Canas, in fact, seemed to pity the young man. He often spoke of the power of knowledge, and how, if it was not handled carefully, could drive somebody mad. Of course, he was careful to never mention this in front of Mark.

On the battlefield, Mark worked hard to keep the same people paired in every battle. Even if it made no tactical sense. If he was questioned for his reasoning, he would simply reply something about 'supports' and 'levelling up'. Though it made no sense to anybody, apparently it did to him. He would just laugh and wave off their confused expressions, saying that "only a tactician would understand."

Hector had eventually grown accustomed to Mark's eccentricities. The man may have been mad, but he was reliable, and Hector could trust him with his life. Or, so he had thought.

Until today.

"GUY!" Hector screamed as he watched the swordsman jump into the midst of three mages and two Pegasus knights. "Are you mad?!"

"It was Mark's orders!" was Guy's feeble response as he narrowly dodged the head of a lance. Hector couldn't decide who was stupider at this point – Mark, for throwing Guy into such a situation, or Guy, for so blindly following his orders. Regardless, he jumped into the fray, cursing the tactician's name as he did so.

~ - x - ~ - x- ~ - x - ~

"S-so y-you want me to head _towards_ the b-ballista?" Florina asked worriedly, biting her lip.

"For the tenth time, Florina, yes," Mark replied scathingly. His eyes were intently scanning the pages of the book he was holding. "Now why don't you go be a good Pegasus Knight and go fly along, hmm?"

Florina still looked unsure, but she nodded nonetheless and was about to take flight when...

"Halt, Florina." Both Florina and Mark turned to see Eliwood walking towards them, his lips set in a frown. Mark grumbled incoherently underneath this breath. "Did I hear that right, Mark? You're about to send Florina towards a ballista?" His red eyebrows were furrowed.

"That's right."

Eliwood's frown deepened. "That doesn't sound like a very good idea."

Mark raised an eyebrow. "Oh, excuse me, Lord Eliwood, but are _you_ the tactician?"

"No, but I am the leader of this army, and my say is final." He turned towards Florina. "I want you to stay far away from that ballista, Florina."

Florina nodded and visibly relaxed. Mark, however, was annoyed. Who did Eliwood think he was, sprouting advice when he could barely swing a sword himself?

"MARK!"

The three of them turned to see a very harassed-looking Hector stomping towards them. Blood was oozing out of a large gash in the side of his face. Florina gasped.

"It appears you've been injured, Lord Hector," Mark replied, apparently oblivious to the Ostian's rage. "I suggest you go and find Serra or Priscilla. Unfortunately, I can't remember where I've sent them off to…"

"Have you gone mad?!" Hector roared suddenly, grasping the front of Mark's robes. "Your tactics today are insane! Lunatic!"

Mark frowned. "Lunatic? That's not possible. There's no Lunatic mode in this game."

Hector only understood part of what Mark said. So he drew off what he could. "You think this is all a game?!" He shook Mark's robes, wondering if he could shake any sense into him. Florina let out a little 'eep' of fear. "We are not some disposable pawns in your game of chess!"

"Hector," Eliwood said steadily, "calm yourself."

Hector glared at Eliwood. Before he could angrily reply that he refused to calm himself, a new voice cut into the conversation.

"What's going on?" It was Lyn, and she held a bloodied sword in one hand. Her eyebrows were furrowed deeply. Then she saw that Hector had a hold of Mark, and her eyes sparked angrily. "What're you doing, Hector? Let go of him!"

"There's something wrong with him today," Hector snarled, pushing Mark away in disgust, as if he carried a disease. "Have you seen the tactics he's been employing?"

Lyn hesitated. "I'll admit he's been making some risky moves, but he has our best intentions at heart." She smiled. "Don't you, Mark?"

Mark didn't reply. Unable to meet her eye, he stared at the ground and uneasily shifted his book in his hands. Lyn caught sight of the cover and gasped suddenly.

"No…" Her voice was now a whisper, and her skin grew a deathly pale. "It can't be."

"Lyndis?" Eliwood reached a hand out towards her worriedly. "What is it?"

She didn't appear to hear him. Her eyes were trained on Mark, and only Mark. "It's that time of the year, isn't it?"

He nodded gravely. "I'm afraid it is." He sighed and hung his head. "I'm sorry."

This time Florina gasped in horror, and she covered her mouth with her hand. She seemed to understand something that Eliwood and Hector clearly did not.

"What?" Hector snapped impatiently. "What're you talking about, Lyn?"

She closed her eyes and shook her head slowly. "I'm afraid it's–"

An arrow lodged into her chest.

She gasped and fell forward. Hector roared like a beast and caught her in his arms as Florina screamed. Eliwood was the only one with sense; he cut down the archer, who had next turned his aim at Hector's neck.

"…Finals," Lyn whispered to Hector. Then she smiled softly and her eyes saw no more.

"LYN!" Hector screamed. Florina hopped off her Pegasus and sobbed at the sight of her friend's limp form.

"She's gone, my friend," Eliwood whispered, placing a hand on Hector's shoulder. His voice cracked.

Suddenly, terrified screams began to ring through the battlefield. At first, Hector thought it was because of Lyn's death, but it was when Eliwood gasped and pointed at the sky that he knew it was something even worse.

A black shadow was descending from the sky, like a heavy black curtain being brought down from the Heavens above. Soon, there was no blue in the sky; all was black. Still cradling Lyn in his arms, Hector glanced around himself fearfully. Both comrades and enemies were running about frantically, screaming and sobbing and praying.

"Hector…" Hector had only ever heard Eliwood sound this scared when Lord Elbert had passed.

That was when Hector caught Mark's eye. The tactician smiled sadly as the blackness began to bear down upon him.

"I'm sorry…"

Hector tried to shout angrily, because somehow he knew that this was the tactician's doing, but he realized that he had no voice, because his head had been overcome by the darkness, and soon he was swallowed whole.

* * *

Mark sighed as he stared at the "Game over" screen. He turned off his Gameboy Advance and stowed it away.

He felt bad for killing off Lyn like that, but only by killing somebody off would he have an excuse to turn off his game and return to his studies. Otherwise, he would've been up playing it all night.

"Sorry, guys, but saving Elibe from Nergal can wait. I have more important battles to fight." He returned his attention to his Calculus book, which was still open on the same page he had left it when he had tried to direct Florina to death. He studied well into the night and aced his final the next day, ensuring that Lyn's death had not been in vain.

* * *

 _I came up with this idea while I was studying for my Accounting final the other day. It's finals week at my university (I have my first one tomorrow!), so I wrote this in honor of it. I get distracted pretty easily when I study (if that isn't clear already), so I usually have to let my iPod die or hide it somewhere so I don't end up fooling around on it...that's the premise of Mark trying to kill everyone off. He knows he HAS to turn off his game and focus on his studies. Hopefully that made sense._

 _Also, feel free to comment on any grammatical errors or weird things you noticed. I wrote this all in one go, since I really do have to focus on my studies starting tomorrow. XD My first intentions were to create a light-hearted story, but it ended up kinda dramatic...oh well, finals ARE dramatic, you know._


End file.
